The Stone of Azrël
by TehDono
Summary: It's the 5 year, 3 month, 2 week anniversary since Hitomi returned from Gaea. When a pillar of light descends from the sky, the only thoughts she can muster are "Van, you came back for me." But then her rationalism would kick in. "Something is wrong"-VxH
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** _I do not in fact own __Escaflowne__. If I did, trust me the story would be so screwed up it didn't make sense…_

* * *

_**Chapter 1**_

It always seems to start with running.

The wind in her face, her mind and body focused on a single goal ignoring the surrounding world. Hitomi Kanzaki was always running when something important happened. She started track team, meeting her best friend Yukari Uchida. The track team eventually led to her first crush Amano, and soon to love. She was running when she encountered that young prince from the distant planet known as Gaea, and it was running that she left to that world.

Gaea, a planet where the Earth and Moon hung in the sky, where giants fought with the chivalry code of knighthood, and dragons roamed the lands. A place where angels really did exist; Gaea was a planet where everything she thought to be just a myth, really did in fact exist.

_BANG!_

With the shot of the gun, the blonde woman lurched from her starting position and she sprinted off into first place, her mind refocusing onto the task at hand—winning this last race. Why was it that Hitomi thought of Gaea _now_ of all times? It had been 5 years. She was a junior in collage, getting ready for her finals, competing in prep district races for a chance to go to Regional's. What did Gaea have to do with her collage scholarship to a GREAT university, or her final exam of the semester in 3 hours? Yukari had many a time caught her friend daydreaming of the vibrant planet, and told her again and again to let go of the dream.

But it wasn't just a dream, it was real. The people she had met and learned to love in the medieval like countries couldn't be just a dream. A dream couldn't give the nagging headache that Merle's arguments gave her, nor could it make her laugh as hard a Millerna could. It also couldn't create the breeze she felt as she rode behind Van in the Escaflowne's dragon form. A dream wouldn't leave Hitomi with the heartbreak she felt even years after their separation.

Her feet began to fail slowly as Hitomi realized exactly what Gaea had to do with her life today. It was the five year, three months, and two week anniversary of the day she had met Van on the tracks of her old high school field. Ok, so maybe it's not a very specific date that should ruin her entire day, but ever since that day, Hitomi couldn't help but think that something was in fact missing from her life. She had been counting the days that she no longer felt whole again. She may have physically left Gaea, but her heart and thoughts were still there.

Yukari never believed her when she said that her life wouldn't be the same again after that war-torn planet. But then again, her best friend hadn't even believed her story and claimed she had been hallucinating. No one understood the turmoil she was in, her heart and body being in two separate places. In high school, it had in fact shown. Her grades slowly began to drop until Hitomi realized that she couldn't change where she was. She was the love struck fool who left her only key to Gaea with the Fanelian king. She couldn't go back any time soon, at least not without the pendant.

As her black track shoes passed the bulky white finish line, Hitomi slowed to a stop where she bent down, breathing heavily. She hadn't won; she knew that much for a fact. She wasn't focused, and a certain red head in the bleachers had noticed this. She skipped down the steps and onto the grass where she approached her weary friend with a raging fury, but also a compassionate concern.

"What was going on out there, Hitomi?" she asked, her brown eyes burning with a determination. Even after high school, Yukari did, in fact, appoint herself as Hitomi's personal manager, keeping her stats accurate, signing her up for multiple competitions. This year, it had led to her actually managing the whole team again.

Hitomi managed to flash back at her friend a charming smile, hiding the truth from her. Yukari didn't like to hear about it, she didn't believe it. Ever since she heard Hitomi's whole spill on how she was no longer complete, Yukari Uchida did not like to hear about the planet Hitomi seemed to value more than their friendship. "Sorry Yukari," she apologized, flashing a sympathetic smile. "I just wasn't focusing…"

The red head defiantly put her hands on her hips, clip board in hand. "Well, of course you weren't focusing! Hitomi, you went backwards on your record—nearly 13 seconds!" she exclaimed, thrusting the stopwatch in her friend's face.

Hitomi's green eyes stared in shock at the timer. She had passed the 13 second barrier as soon as she came back from Gaea, and she's never gone over it since. '12.58', it was too close for comfort.

Sighing in complete defeat, Hitomi fell back into the green grass, her eyes locked onto the clear morning blue sky above. She wished that Gaea would hang in the sky as Earth did all those years ago. Whenever the young school girl got homesick, all she had to do was look into the sky. However, now that she was heartbroken and longing the world she barely knew, Hitomi couldn't find the comfort in the sky. "This just isn't happening," she said, putting her arms over her eyes.

The auburn haired woman placed herself next to her friend as she attempted to lighten the mood. "Well, while you were stretching, I got a call from Amano," she began, reflecting on her lovely experience. Although Amano had in fact left for America right after Hitomi returned, the three of them had somehow managed to keep in contact. Hitomi especially urged it since she had realized Yukari's feelings for her first crush. "He said that he'd be in the station this afternoon, around noonish. He just landed in Tokyo and is getting on a train to get here," she continued. A few weeks ago, they had received news that Amano was coming back to visit family, and Yukari claimed his time (when he was away from family) immediately.

As her friend continued, Hitomi's thoughts turned to the place she loved. Gaea; how was Merle doing? Was she still clutching onto Van like a spoilt child? Was Chid still a child, or had his sudden reign matured him faster than a child should? And how was Millerna and Dryden's marriage? Was he finally the man she deserved, or had Millerna gone away and married Allen? And Allen... last thing she remembered, Celena was found, however, she wasn't entirely herself. How was she, and more importantly, how was Allen coping with it? And then there was Van…

"You're doing it again…" Yukari whispered under her breath. Hitomi jumped at her friend's accusation, lifting her arms off of her head and sitting up slightly.

Hitomi tried to laugh it off. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Yukari-chan," she lied, scratching the back of her head as a nervous gesture. However, the red head saw behind the act. She had in fact grown up with Hitomi all throughout middle school; she knew Hitomi's little twirks like that.

Yukari avoided her friend's gaze as she looked up at the next set of racers. "Why can't you just realize that it was just a dream, Hitomi?" she questioned, her gaze switching to the birds in the trees. Hitomi sighed. Yukari meant the best for her, and she knew it. However…

"I just can't act like it didn't happen…" the blonde replied wrapping her arms around her knees. "You may not believe it happened, but I woke up for weeks asking myself, if it was just a dream. Then Merle would come running in, reminding me that it wasn't…" It wasn't like the thought hadn't in fact crossed her mind. Maybe it was better if she just filed it away in her memories as a dream, a very good dream. But the people she had met, the deaths she had witnessed. What all had happened wouldn't allow her to just call it a dream. But this was something she knew Yukari would never understand.

The silence that developed between them reminded Hitomi that she was in fact alone. Yukari had tried her best between the years to keep their friendship alive, but Hitomi couldn't help but feel it slipping.

At first, Hitomi had secluded herself for months in her room, writing down each individual memory down inside a long expansive journal, which she now kept with her at all times. Even after that, the rumors that spread from that single week she had been gone in Earth time went wild, and Hitomi wouldn't confront them. It only mattered to her that she knew the truth. She was now an outcast, her only friends being Yukari and her memories.

And she could feel one of them slipping away.

The whistle blew for the freshmen to gather next to the coach and Yukari stood up. "I better go," she said, packing her things together. "I'm going to pick up Amano," she explained, as she prepared to leave. "You're more than welcome to come with me, I'm sure Amano would love to see you again, it's been a few months."

"No," she declined. "I've got that final in three hours to study for." Well, it was that, and she really wanted to be alone with her thoughts. However, the Finals were something real in Yukari's mind, something she could deal with. If Hitomi mentioned Gaea or Van, the tension would finally snap. "I'll see you guys this afternoon, after my test."

A light in Yukari's eyes began to glow brightly as she hoped that Hitomi might be coming in terms with the fact that she had a life that was real. The red head nodded, before waving bye as she left the track field leaving the disheartened female alone in her thoughts. Which, that wasn't usually a good thing-- especially on the five year, three month, two week anniversary.

Sighing, Hitomi stood up. She did have a real exam to study for, even if it wasn't in the reality she wanted. So, Hitomi packed all of her things up inside her duffle bag, after leaving to the locker room to change back into regular civilian clothes. Today was not going to be a great day for focusing, so Hitomi decided to go to the one place she knew she could in fact focus without thoughts of family, Yukari, or even Gaea to break through…

* * *

Of course at noon, the campus cafeteria wasn't exactly the quietest place. But on a day like today, the noise would force her to think only on the study material in hand rather than that mystical planet where the Earth and moon hung in the sky. So, with that course of action planned, Hitomi took a seat in the center of the dining hall, coincidently the loudest part of the entire room. A smile crossed her face as she sat down at a small table.

Hitomi threw her duffle bag on the floor next to her and began to dig for her World History textbook. Yeah. World History. Yukari had about fell over when Hitomi said that she would begin majoring in History, rather than Physical Education, like many had planned for her to do. After Gaea, the heartbroken Hitomi became obsessed with the unexplainable myths and legends in the world and the Medieval and Renaissance eras, along with Feudal Japan and Samurais. A girl who before her claimed 'journey to another world' used to dissect movies to prove them wrong and laugh at them, was blaming missing objects on pixies and the world's strife on Pandora's mythical box of evils. Yukari had thought it was just a phase, much like her own guitar one, and would grow out of it in a few months. But after five years it still hadn't passed.

As the college student's eyes fell on her textbook, she began to glare at it. Ok, so maybe she was in love with history, but she wasn't in love with studying. _Yeah,_ she thought bitterly to herself. _Study, study and more studying._ And with that, she opened the red covered book and turned to their current section—Europe Renaissance. As an attempt to advert her focus, Hitomi quietly began to read aloud.

"The Renaissance was a time of renewal in the arts and science. Many famous works…"she began softly to herself. Although the clattering of metal and the resonance of conversation was distracting, Hitomi began to zone out, focusing on her own voice, and the words they formed as she studied. Sure, she was talking to herself, and the surrounding students had to be annoyed with her, or considered her weird, but Hitomi pushed those thoughts from her mind as she concentrated on the words her lips formed.

Her thoughts remained clear and focused on the Renaissance—it began in Italy, but soon spread all through Europe. It was also a time in which they developed ideas of John Locke and Niccolo Machiavelli which in turn was used in the basis of the United States constitution. Her thoughts were set in stone, until of course, some stupid commotion brought her attention away.

Ok, so maybe her focusing ideas weren't perfect, but they were better than the distractions of Yukari's discussion and him. But then again, that was the whole reason she even responded to this wild commotion.

"Whoa, man," some random guy had said, grabbing his friend's attention from their extra large pizza. "Look at that—that isn't natural," he commented, pointing out the window. Of course, everyone within a 20ft radius had in fact heard him, and quickly gathered to see what he was pointing at. They all gasped in surprise as continued to look on. Well, curiosity happened to get the best of Hitomi too, as she stood up to walk over to the window, setting her book on the table. She pushed her way through the developing crowd to gain a better view of this 'unnatural occurrence' in small town Japan.

A small gasp escaped her mouth as Hitomi's eyes caught sight of what everyone else had saw. Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes. She immediately turned on her heels and ran towards her table. She grabbed the duffle bag and entirely forgot the red bound book which lay on the table. All of that focus and clear thinking she had obtained flew out the window as Hitomi continued to run through the campus streets. Only one thought ran through her head as Hitomi ran:

_Van, you came back for me._ But then her rationalism would kick in. _But wait, why is he back here? Every time he comes back-- something is wrong. Please let everything be ok Van…_

* * *

The sun was almost directly overhead when Van's feet reached the ground. He quickly folded his wings as he noticed a group of talkative teenagers on the other side of the building in which he had arrived behind. _Nice cover_, he mentally thought as he quickly checked himself. His sword was still firmly on his belt, and his shirt… where was his shirt? But then, the red fabric in his gloved hands reminded him of Merle's advice. 'Van, at least appear to have SOME sense of civilization when you go over there' she commented, advising him to take his shirt off before he broke out the wings and flew to the Mystic Moon. 'We've had to replace too many of your shirts because you're too impatient, Lord Van.'

Van would have laughed at her comment, but he wasn't thinking rationally anymore. As a matter of fact, Van hadn't thought rationally since that day five years ago when Hitomi left Gaea. Then it hit him; he was on the Mystic Moon, the homeland of Hitomi—his Hitomi.

His senses popped back into place as to where he was and why he was exactly here. He had called on the power of Hitomi's pendant for help, its pink glow directing his wish to appear on the Mystic Moon a reality. And now that he was actually here, Van was at a loss as to what to actually do. He needed to find the blonde headed woman, but he had no idea where to look or even _how_ to look. This wasn't his country, where the laws where his own, or even his planet. How was the King of all Fanelia supposed to find, as Hitomi had called herself, an 'average school student' on a different planet?

His thoughts were abruptly stopped when the girls actually turned the corner and found Van frantically looking around with no idea as what to do. A red headed girl in front smiled at him with sympathetic eyes realizing that the man was, in fact, lost. "Can I help you with anything?" she asked, taking a few steps forward. Van looked at her with a confused expression, but shrugged off this strange feeling as he took back his leadership role of deciding how to solve the problem at hand.

"Actually," he said straightening a little, as if to seem like he knew in fact what he was doing. "Do any of you know how to find Hitomi Kanzaki?"

The red head in front of him seemed slightly taken aback by his question; however it was the girls behind her that answered his questions. "Oh, I didn't know that Hitomi-chan knew any cosplayers."

"That would explain her whole NEET attitude…"

The two girls behind the red head continued to laugh, as her and Van's patience began to grow thin. "Yukari-chan," one of the girls behind her began, "since Amano called and said he was being picked up by family, why don't you take Van back to the dorms to wait for Hitomi to get done with that exam?" she suggested. At the mention of the red head's name, Van's eyes lit up with recognition.

"Yukari?" he asked, his eyes full of hope. "I've heard Hitomi mention your name so many times." Yukari took a step back from him. Something felt so wrong, yet so vaguely familiar about this guy. It was almost like…

"Did Hitomi meet you at some Ren Fair or something?" she timidly asked.

The look on Van's face should have answered her question, because he was confused beyond all coherent belief. "What's a Ren Fair?"

The girls behind Yukari burst out unto laughter as something seemed to flicker inside the auburn covered head. Yukari gave a quick glare to the girls behind her. The freshmen immediately shut up as their senior took the confused boy away from them.

As Van was being dragged away to a strange blue carriage, Yukari was wrapped on his arm, much like Merle usually was, except, it wasn't near as gentle. "I need answers…" she explained, opening the door to the unhorsed carriage. As she walked around to get into the other side, Van was amazed by the strange devices in the car, but decided not to ask any questions. The red head was acting especially strange. As she sat in the car, she tried to breathe slowly to calm herself down. "Who the hell are you? Hitomi doesn't know any cosplayers, and she's only been to one Ren Fair and claimed it wasn't what she expected…"

The raven haired king looked at her confused beyond all belief. "Yukari, I have no idea what you're talking about…"

"Just answer me this, and I'll decide if Hitomi needs to see you…"

Van turned to look at Yukari, square in her chestnut brown eyes. But she turned away from his gaze and began to turn on the machine, and they began to move. He had to tell Yukari who he was, he was sure that Hitomi had told their story to her closest friend. Besides that, this fiery red head was the only connection he had with Hitomi in this world. If she couldn't get him to Hitomi, who would?

"I'm Van Slanzar de Fanel—King of Fanelia…"

* * *

_Ok, so that's the beginning of my story. I know Hitomi is just a little out of character, but trust __me,__ she'll be back to normal in later chapters. She just doesn't feel "whole" again, ne? Anyways, any advice is more than __welcome;__ because I'm sure I need it. Anyways, __I'm looking for someone to help me with the story__editing, etc__So yeah, I'm looking for advice! Keep that in mind and watch out for the next __chatper_

_TehDono__ has left the building!_


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own the Vision of __Escaflowne__, but I will one day obtain the right when I conquer the world… Oh wait- no one was supposed to know about that…_

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_**Chapter 2**_

A twilight setting had fallen upon the small Japanese campus as Hitomi managed to pull out her key to her dorm room. It was useless; she looked all day long, forgetting about her exam and everything. It had to be just a dream- a wild vague dream in which seemed more real than the other ones. So, she missed her exam, probably forcing her to fail this entire semester, and she had exhausted herself by looking for a pillar of light she had dreamed up. Why was it that after five years, the memories of Gaea still haunted her? If she knew that in a few years she would be this miserable, Hitomi wouldn't have left. She wouldn't feel this empty.

Defeated, Hitomi pulled out her keys from her duffle bag. Today could easily be filed away in the past as Hitomi's worst day in her entire life. She was going to fail her majoring class, and her dreams were destroyed in her face. Unlocking the door, Hitomi was greeted with the darkness of her empty room. "Yukari?" she called out. Then she remembered where her friend probably was. _Amano, _she thought bitterly. But the more she thought about the animosity in her thoughts, the more she regretted it. _No, Yukari deserves to be with the person she loves._

Hitomi realized when she returned exactly how much Yukari was in love with Amano. However, the red head also knew that her best friend was in love with him too. But Hitomi was too blind before, seeing her own happiness before her friend's. Just before, her hasty words were her thinking about herself first. Hitomi fell onto her bed, disappointed and exhausted. She felt horrible and wanted to just curl into a ball and cry herself to sleep.

In an attempt to brighten the darkness around her, both mentally and physically, Hitomi turned to the window and pulled the curtain. The orange glow from the setting sun radiated into the room. Hitomi closed her eyes.

Today was nothing special, but why did it seem like today everything came spiraling downward? Before today, she was the best runner on the track team, she had a high B in her history class. She had been accepted to a great school and had most of it paid with a scholarship she gained with her track team. Yukari managed to get in the exact same college, even the same dorm room. Her position had elevated on the track team from assistant to manager, and life was like before, when she was in high school and everything was normal. But it also wasn't normal, there was one major difference between those many years ago and today—she had witnessed Gaea.

_It's been a __bad __day,_ Hitomi told herself. _I just need to sleep all of this off. Maybe tomorrow, I won't think about it near as much…_

Hitomi sighed as she turned to lay on her side, her eyes gazing out the window. Why couldn't she go back to the way life was before; where her and Yukari laughed over trivial things, and guys were far from their minds.

But deep down, Hitomi knew why this was. It was all because of that planet beyond people's sight. A planet where the earth and moon hung in the sky-- a place called Gaea. Emerald eyes closed and darkness began to encompass her. Maybe in her dreams, she could see it. Just one more time, she could see the place where her heart had been held captive all these many years.

She tried, but Hitomi could not fall asleep. Her dreams were her only place of comfort, and they couldn't even come when she beckoned them to. If she wished them to come, they probably would. But those wishes would be those from anxiety, causing trouble for those on that lush green planet. When did Hitomi's life become so confusing?

The door clanked as the bolt lock began to turn. Hitomi thought nothing of it, although her senses should have flared. After all, it was probably just Yukari, coming to pick up something, or to change clothes for her and Amano to go out and eat.

The door didn't open and Hitomi just lay there, awaiting her childhood friend to appear and tell her about the adventures her and Amano would be facing today. But even after minutes of waiting, the door didn't open. Hitomi began to fear the worse as she sat up, clutching her pillow. No sound- nothing. Not even a shadow casted upon the light under the door.

Trying to maintain her calm, Hitomi turned to hang her legs off of the side of her twin sized bed. She faced the window and the orange twilight glow radiated onto her face. Something wasn't right. The unnerving silence was proof enough for her statement. If her pendant was with her, it would be pulsating a pink glow to warn and protect her. What was going on? What was so completely and utterly wrong?

Finally, the door behind her opened, resonating a screech from the rusty hinges. A chill ran up her spine as Hitomi realized that it was now or never. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, gaining her complete focus. Sighing, she opened her eyes. "Yukari?" she asked once again to the darkness behind her, turning around.

The cushion fell from her hands as Hitomi stared back at intense maroon eyes.

* * *

The navy Yaris screeched to a stop as those last three words left his mouth. Yukari's feet were firmly pressed to the floorboard as her head turned to that of the man beside her. The raven haired male was clutching onto the sides of his seat, his maroon eyes wide at the abrupt stop. Of course he was confused beyond all belief, but so was Yukari. She refused to believe those words that had come out of his mouth.

"_Who_?" she demanded, this time in a more angered voice. Van looked at the red-head, confused, but determined.

In a louder voice, he said the words again. "I am Van Slanzar de Fanel, King of all Fanelia." Instead of winning the red head over, however, he only managed to anger her even more as Yukari's cheeks puffed out in irritation. She locked her chestnut brown eyes with his, searching intently for some kind of truth that lay hidden behind the burgundy screen.

"Where did you hear that name?" Yukari demanded, as a light before them turned from red to green. Earlier, although abrupt, they had in fact stopped for traffic reasons, but her shock had lain and effect.

She pressed gently on the accelerator as the car began to move in a more steady speed. People on the outside thought she was driving like a mad woman. Who knew, maybe she was. After all, it's not every day that you are faced with the facts that your best friend since childhood may have in fact went to another planet and was now about to leave again. "Did Hitomi tell you? Are you that one guy from the Ren Fair? Is this Hitomi's trick to make me believe her weird little story?"

Van looked at Yukari with obvious confusion. "I seriously have no idea what you're talking about," he stated, relaxing his grip on the chair, and staring out the window to his left. Why didn't Yukari, Hitomi's best friend, believe him? Was it that Yukari didn't believe in the story of Gaea?

Or maybe, it was the fact that Yukari didn't want to believe. She didn't want to believe that Hitomi had in fact disappeared for months at a time in a war-torn planet. Of all people, he understood that. After all, it was he who claimed for years that his brother didn't run away from the right of dragon slaying, when in fact he saw the same Folken Fanel, years later, as a traitor to his country.

When the car stopped again, this time at a hexagonal sign, Van looked over at Yukari. He had to find out what was going on her head if he wanted to gain no only her trust, but his path to Hitomi. "I'm serious, Yukari," he began, adverting his attention from her angered expression. "Hitomi wasn't lying. I really am Van Fanel—Gaea really is another planet created from the draconian of Atlantis. And I'm proof that the Atlantians did in fact exist…"

The red head snorted. "Yeah, and I'm Cinderella loosing my glass slipper." Yukari managed to pull the navy vehicle to a parallel park a few blocks away from the dormitory. She hadn't even truly planned to take him to Hitomi. No, she wasn't going to fall into whatever little plan her friend had laid out so perfectly. She had hired a great actor. It was almost like 'Van' really did believe he was the King of Fanelia. But Yukari wasn't that stupid. There was no way this guy was the real deal—even if the real deal had in fact existed.

Van had no idea what she meant with that comment, but he let it slide over his head as he stared at Yukari in obvious confusion. Why wouldn't she believe what he was saying? Van never had much patience, but what little he had was running thin. Van placed a gloved hand over his eyes as he continued to think of his next plan of action. As something came to mind, Van leaned back into the seat.

"Ask me a question."

Yukari looked at him with an annoyed look. "What?" If this was going to continue any longer, Yukari knew a vein in her forehead would pop from pure anger was being developed. Her blood was pumping as her thoughts were running rampant. She was not happy.

Van smiled, obviously sure of himself. "Ask me a question—any question. If you want to establish my background, ask me where I came from. My relationship with Hitomi, ask me a personal question about her I should know." He was obviously confident, and it bugged Yukari. Sure, Hitomi had described him as a self assured, hard-headed king, she still said it with compassion, and made sure that Yukari realized how great of a man Van was. This wasn't entirely prince charming material.

But then again, Van wasn't a prince charming.

"Come on," he egged her. The red head sighed as she continued to fall into his plot. What was she going to do? Throw him out onto the street. _That's actually a very good idea._

"Color of Hitomi's eyes."

Van smiled. "Their like emeralds," he recalled, remembering the image of Hitomi. "I remember because Merle once mentioned to me randomly about how her strange foreign clothes brought out her eyes."

Yukari sighed. That wasn't a hard question. Her eyes did stand out, but they were beautiful. And from the way this guy talked about it, if he did in fact know the Hitomi, he would have thought so too. But she wasn't about to let him go this easily. There were still many questions for him to answer.

"How about her favorite color?" the red head questioned, a fire in her eyes.

"Blue," he stated simply. Yukari opened her mouth for another question as he began to elaborate. "But she made sure it wasn't just any kind of blue. Although she looked best in green, she was absolutely in love with this "steel blue" color."

"Birthday?"

Van had to think about this one. It was hard for him to translate it. "It's purple, 9th moon," he recalled to himself. "I think the words were 'december 9th 'though?" he questioned himself, not entirely sure of the answer. The woman before him looked absolutely astonished. No one believed that Hitomi was in fact a winter child, considering she loved the summer months the best. However, this man got it perfectly right first time.

"Age?"

"20—21 by the end of the year."

"favorite food?"

"She loves strawberries."

"Little brother's name?"

"Mamoru."

"Hates?"

"Sour and spicy foods. With a passion might I add."

She continued to ask questions that he answered perfectly, and sometimes elaborately. The red head looked at him. He sat there perfectly still. Even now to the point as to where he closed his eyes as she spoke. Only if he really knew her would he know the answer to this one. No one- not even her own parents, had been able to figure this one out. "When she's nervous?"

"Her pattern switches. She tends to look around the room, but when she realizes she's doing that, she begins to rub her hands. If her hands are occupied, she rubs her feet against the floor. Either way, she has to move, whether it is her eyes, her hands, or her feet. Something has to move," Van stated, opening his eyes a little to see Yukari's reaction.

Of course, she was dumb found. Her face dropped from a confident smirk, to an absolutely lost expression. At first, he thought he may have answered incorrectly. After all, given five years, that may have in fact changed. Yukari sighed as she grabbed the shift and switched it to "D".

As the car began to move, Van sat up straight. He tried to look Yukari in the face, to try and decipher what was happening in beneath her red hair. But he couldn't get anything. Her hair hung to the sides of her face and her eyes were distant. So, the Fanelian settled for staring out the window, and watching the inhabitants of the mystic moon make their daily routes. Going in and out of stores, it was almost like the market of Fanelia instead of wooden stalls, they were on the inside of building, huge windows of glass to allow sight inside.

Yukari managed to park next to a building. She sighed as she pulled the key from the ignition. Van looked over at her. She was staring at her lap. The silence between the two of them had been unbearable. She refused to ask another question, and he was afraid that he had answered something wrong. However, that fear was wiped away when she raised her head to look at him. "Why are you on earth this time, Van?"

For the first time, she not only used his name, but recognized there was another place besides earth.

* * *

The cushion fell from her hands as Hitomi stared back at intense maroon eyes.

She was absolutely speechless. Hitomi opened her mouth to speak, but the words she wanted to say just wouldn't come out. There was no mistaking who the person in front of her was; however, she couldn't do anything to verbalize her racing thoughts.

As if that wasn't enough, her entire body froze right there. Shock had taken its toll on her body and was causing her to relapse into a frozen state. But she couldn't sit there frozen forever. The fire of determination in his eyes managed to thaw her down to her bones. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, as her hands made their way to her mouth, as if they could hold back the words that she knew would stumble out.

"V-Van?" she questioned to the darkness. The maroon eyes before her, once widened in shock, had managed to soften at the sound of his name.

The raven haired king took a few steps forward, bringing himself into the orange cast light. Twilight was always a beautiful sight, but in Hitomi's eyes, no sunset scenery was as beautiful as the one before her. The man before her was strange and different yet familiar all the same. His charcoal black hair had grown out slightly since she had last seen him. But it was still the same messy style, and the bangs still hung over his eyes. His skin was still its same tan hue. And although he had grown considerably in both build and height, Van still managed to maintain his lean appearance—even through all the male testosterone.

At that moment, all Hitomi wanted to do was to run up to him an embrace him. However, she couldn't move. Her body wouldn't let her. What if he was just a dream, a vision she had created? She would end up running right through his intangible body, and that would hurt more than anything at the moment. The tears that were building up silently began to fall. "Th-this is…," she whispered to herself, in complete denial, "Th-this is just a- just a dream, isn't it?"

Van saw the pain in her eyes, but more importantly, the tears that were falling from them. He took a step closer, and saw her distraught beyond all belief. When he heard what she barely managed to voice, his tense and nervous muscles began to relax.

Van walked over to the bed. Hitomi's emerald eyes widened her senses and confusion reaching a new level. Van sat down on the edge of the bed, about a foot away from the college girl. Taking his callused hand out of its leather glove, Van cupped Hitomi's chin. A chill went down her spine at the feel of his touch. He wiped a tear from her cheek as he brought her face to look directly at his. "I'm right here Hitomi," he breathed, locking maroon with emerald.

At the sound of his voice, Hitomi just entirely broke down. Her tears fell fluidly and her weak and tired body began to shake violently. Van immediately wrapped the woman in his arms, as she cried into his chest. After five years, his smell was still the same. He smelled like the depths of the forest, the grass of a field, and the wind of the sky. It was a scent she would remember for the rest of her life.

Hitomi continued to cling to Van's shirt. "I saw that pillar of light," she rambled to herself. She wasn't even aware as if to Van was listening or not. "But then I couldn't find you. I was afraid this was just another dream…"

As her voice faded away, Van continued to subconsciously stroke her hair. Hitomi was an absolute mess. Tears were streaming down her face, soaking his red shirt. She was trembling from her sobs. This wasn't the strong Hitomi he knew back on Gaea. _Did something happen?_ Van silently asked himself, as he pulled Hitomi closer to him. _No, __nothing should have happened… yet._

Once Hitomi managed to stop her own tears, she looked up at Van with a look of confusion and hope. She had so many questions, that much Van knew. Hitomi always had questions, and now wasn't any different.

"Why are you here Van? Is something wrong?" she questioned, managing to hold herself stable again. Van smiled. _That's the Hitomi I know…_, he thought to himself. However, the fear that was set in her eyes hadn't managed to vanish.

Hitomi continued to look into his deep red eyes. He sighed. "Nothing," he said softly, turning his eyes away from hers. _He's lying._

Hitomi always knew when Van was lying. First he would sigh. And although while he was speaking, he would look directly into her eyes, he would always advert them almost as soon as he had finished speaking. Although she had in fact only been with Van for a few months, she learned some things about him. Probably, just as much, as he learned about her.

"It's not 'nothing'," she said. She didn't even have to explain herself. Van knew immediately as he turned his head to argue back. His easily agitated fire ceased as he looked into her eyes. He could perfectly read what was in her eyes, because he had the same thoughts running through his head. _I wouldn't be here if it was 'nothing', or else I would have been here sooner._ Van stood up, walking towards the window. The twilight setting outside cast off an orange tone to everything it touched; his shirt, his face, his hair. It was the perfect lighting.

Hitomi watched him, both confused and relieved. Confused as to what was going on in his raven head, and relieved that he was no longer looking into hers. She draped her legs over the edge of the bed, almost in an attempt to get up. She wanted to know what he was thinking. She had been five years without seeing him, where as before he left, she knew almost everything about him; His voice, his smell, his thoughts, his anger. Out of anyone there that was there during the great war, Hitomi was the one who knew Van the best.

Her thoughts continued, but were abruptly stopped. Van had turned to face her, a shy smile plastered on his face. The blonde woman felt the blood rush to her cheeks as he spoke. "We want you home…"

"We?"

Van laughed. "Yeah, all of us," he said, "Merle, Millerna, Allen, Dryden, and me." He confirmed, sitting down next to Hitomi. He looked down at his tan pants in thought. He knew what he wanted to say, but the words in front of him just wouldn't appear. "I-I-mean, everyone just misses you so much Hitomi, it's obvious." He stood up again, his anxiety taking over. Whenever he was anxious he could never keep still, and as such, he was pacing. "But I mean, the Mystic Moon is your home right? So I don't mean to take you away from friends and—"Hitomi wouldn't let him finish.

Slender arms wrapped around his abdomen, and a childish blush appeared as he could feel Hitomi's body against his. She smiled into his shirt, as tears came pouring down, making more tear stains on his shirt.

"Take me home, Van…"

* * *

Nine thirty at night, and Amano had finally finished unpacking. Running a hand through his dirty blonde hair, he smiled. "Maybe it'll start feel like home these now," he contemplation aloud.

He had arranged it with his parents he would spend the break from school at his grandparents, as an attempt to reflect with old friends, and catch up on his Japanese past he left behind five years ago. After all, he did feel horrible about leaving only a few days after Hitomi's return. And during her disappearance, he had came to realize the feelings he had actually developed for the blonde's best friend—although he knew she'd never look at him that way.

They were just friends after all. And more importantly, she was best friends with Hitomi- the girl who just admitted her crush on him. A friend never went behind a friend's back. But then again, that same week, Hitomi had said she was wrong about her feelings for Amano, leaving him with no words really to say. It gave him an opening to know Yukari Uchida a little better. However, with a whole ocean separating them, they could only remain good friends. _But that's about to change. This summer is for you, Yukari…_

As if on cue, the doorbell to his grandparent's house rang. He sighed as he walked towards the door.

The elderly couple had left hours ago to a restaurant, however, Amano had wished to stay behind and rest. He had travelled for the past 18 or so hours, and he was exhausted. So a nice shower, and time spent unpacking his suitcases helped him relax just a little bit more.

He opened the wood paneled door to the traditional styled house. "Hello?" he called out, before he even opened it. The sight before him made him quickly drop his jaw. He quickly picked it back up at the sight of the tears streaming her face. "Yukari?"

The red head looked up, and her eyes connected with his. Without even thinking, she ran into his arms, crying onto his shoulder. "She's gone, Amano…" were the only words she could whimper out.

Amano had managed to set them on the ground as Yukari curled in his arms. She was absolutely distraught, that much he understood. But what she was talking about, he couldn't understand. It was only when she had managed to calm down Yukari began to explain in a voice mixed with sadness and fear.

"She's gone. Hitomi left with him, I know," immediately, Amano understood. He hadn't believed her story either, but he at least understood it. The blonde opened his mouth to ask why and how, but the red head managed to stop him. "I had a choice," she whimpered, the tears having stopped. "I could have let him wandered the streets, or lead him the way to her—to take her away. But I saw the way he looked as he spoke of her."

Hitomi had no more faith in this world. Her heart, her happiness, was somewhere else. On that planet she called Gaea. He knew as well as Yukari what their friend would choose. He knew where Hitomi's true happiness was. And Yukari had the chance to be selfish, and keep Hitomi all to herself, regardless of how Hitomi longed for Gaea.

"Amano," she breathed slightly. "I had a choice and I let her go."

* * *

_Wewt__How did you guys like my random conversation between Yukari and Van. I had to give Yukari something considering how I'm basically removing her from the series! XD__ Man, if I have to watch the series over and over again to get inspiration, I should have the story memorized. Anyways, I plan on doing an update once every week or two weeks, unless stated in here for future reference. However, don't entirely plan me to follow that guide, unless you guys decide to__ keep my inspiration going, and more like bother me until I get it finished!_

_And wow, I'd just like to comment on the wonderful response I got to the first chapter. 3 reviews may not be a lot, but I found so many author/story alerts. It was a nice feeling! And I was going to wait until Saturday to post chapter two, but your response just got me fired up again! _

_TehDono__ has left the building!_


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own __the_ _Vision of __Escaflowne__, but a do own __A__ vision of __Escflowne__… That is, if you consider a dream a vision. _

* * *

_**Chapter 3**_

Midnight had struck. The city around her was absolutely silent. Yukari sighed as she opened the glass doors to her dormitory, and up the wooden staircase. After a few hours of consistent crying, Yukari had managed to stop her tears and explain the situation in its entirety to Amano. The blond sat and listened to her story, always managing to keep a sympathetic gaze upon her. Her heart was breaking in two and he could do nothing but sit there. All she wanted to do was the scream Amano to bring back Hitomi, to remind the girl of the people that loved her here, on earth. But he knew as well as she did. Whatever they told Hitomi wasn't going to faze her. Hitomi's heart had been so broken that she wouldn't even consider it.

That planet had stolen Hitomi's heart. And today, that man had now stolen her best friend as a whole.

Yukari wiped a stray tear from her cheek. She didn't want to go back to the cold desolate room in which she had lived in. It was the place where for the past 3 years, Hitomi and she had made so many memories. How could she go back there? She wasn't entirely sure if she could stand to walk into the room and not find Hitomi asleep on her text book. How long would it take to go to sleep without the rhythmic breathing of a sleeping Hitomi?

She turned the brass knob, the cold metal sending a shiver down her spine. Cold air whipped past her as she opened the door. Just as she had suspected, it was dark, quiet, and forlorn. The red head closed her eyes as if to shelter herself from the sight she already knew was before her.

A white light filtered into the barren room. Tears threatened to fall as she saw the room. Hitomi's bed was perfectly made, although a few wrinkles from where she had obviously came home, and at the very least sat on the bed. Yukari sighed as she looked at the television. The familiar black and white static screen played on its front. However, as she red head walked forward to turn it off, the blinking red light above caught her attention. The red light made her realize that there was in fact something connected to the TV, which she had to admit, sparked her interest.

Curious, Yukari wiped a few rebel tears and flipped a switch on the wall before she began to look for the play button. She managed to find the small grey triangle hidden under the screen. As she did, she hesitated. Was she entirely sure she wanted to see the contents of the video? It could be a project that Hitomi had to do, or maybe even a ransom-video! The raven haired 'prince' could have in fact been a kidnapper, his target- Hitomi!

But Yukari knew that wasn't the case. She knew immediately what she saw in him was pure and pressed the button. Even if it was a stupid project, it was the last stupid thing she would see from the green eyed blonde…

_The room in the screen had a ginger glow, and in front was Yukari'__s bed, making it obvious that it was done just in front of the TV. The iron stairwell managed to make its appearance in the open window. The same blue duffle bag Hitomi used for track sat on the window, __its__ zipper wide open, with clothes other objects pointing out of the top. A figure to the left of the scene made a comment._

_"Are you ready Hitomi?" the male voice asked. The person obviously behind the camera sighed._

_"No not yet," she said casually. The man walked in front of the camera, his beige pants being the only visible sight. Hitomi laughed behind the camera. "Get out of the way, Van. I started it!" she exclaimed, rushing in front of the television set._

_Van was pushed onto the bed, where he sat with a confused expression. "What do you mean started it?"_

_Hitomi sighed as she rolled her eyes, settling herself onto the front end of the bed, annoying Van entirely. "I'm recording—ah forget it. I'll explain it to you later," she said, waving her hand as she turned around to face him. The raven haired king was highly annoyed, but he managed to shrug it off with a 'whatever' as he lay on the bed, crossing his arms behind his head._

_The blonde laughed an honest laugh as she pushed he hair behind her ears. Her attention reverted back to the camera, and she sighed. "Where to begin?" she asked herself quietly. "I honestly have no idea..." The blonde sighed once again as she continued to think. "Well, Yukari,__ if you're watching this, you probably have an idea of what's going on." Hitomi turned around to look at Van, as if she needed his support. It was obvious it was just a reflex because she immediately turned back around, her face filled wi__th an unknown determination. __"Well, probably not really. You see Yukari, I wasn't lying about Gaea."_

_With that Hitomi moved over. And there was Van, his head laying on the edge of the bed. He looked over at the TV, supposedly seeing nothing. "What the hell are you talking to Hitomi?"_

_A smile crossed the blonde's face as the man next to her stared utterly confused. "I said I'll explain later," she said, __brushing__ him off. Hitomi continued to laugh as he huffed and rolled back over before getting off the bed. Van walked over __near__ the window where he began to __observe the stereo with extreme interest._

_As her laughter died down, Hitomi's attention reverted back to the camera. "You see," she started in a soft voice, as if finding the courage. Her eyes went from bright and happy to lost and abandoned. "I told you about what I went through on Gaea, and I won't lie to you, it's changed me. When I left, I didn't realize I left apart of myself there too." Van stilled in the background, his muscles tensing up. "And it's because I left a__ piece__ of myself there that I'll never be able to live like before, Yukari. I can't whole heartedly throw my devotions to track, nor can I completely concentrate on college. I can't give anything my all because I'm not entirely here." Tears began to build in her eyes as she spoke to her friend. "I haven't felt whole since I left," she whispered to the air._

_Hitomi's emerald green eyes continued to gaze around the room. Although it wasn't apparent as to what she was looking at entirely, it was evident that she was more than likely taking the last look at the place she knew as home. A tear began to fall down her cheek as she looked down at her hands, clenching at the blue jeans which she wore.__The battery symbol on the top corner began to blink._

_"I don't know how to say this," she said, her voice barely audible. "But I'm leaving. If I knew 5 years ago that Gaea would have had such an effect on me, I wouldn't have left, and it's as easy as that."_

_In the back, Van turned to look at Hitomi. His maroon eyes __filled with compassion and understanding. It was almost as if he realized exactly what he was doing to her, forcing her to come home and leave everything she had once known to be her reality. He sighed and took a few steps forward._

_"But that's why I'm leaving," she said quietly, stopping Van in his tracks and raising her head. The tears she began to shed earlier __having seen as a long lost memory__. "I don't want to feel this empty anymore. If Van is here to take me away, I will go without hesitation. I realize what I'm leaving behind; friends, family, a world I've lived in my entire life. But even with all of that, they can't replace what part of my heart has been missing."_

_Van looked at Hitomi with confusion, yet at the same time understanding. Hitomi had turned around to where __her__ and Van's eyes locked. An untold exchange__ took place__ in an instant, and whoever would watch the video would see the unmistakable bond the two of them shared. Any rumors would be quelled in an instant._

_Hitomi looked back at the camera, a smile crossing over her face. "Make sure to tell my parents that I love them, and don't let Mamoru try to bull__y__ you into 'seeing' this tape. Lord knows what th__at boy would try to do with it…" her voice trailed off. Her voice was becoming hoarse, as she could feel her throat closing from the emotion. She was facing leaving everything behind; her best friend, her entire family._

_The symbol began to blink faster, turning red. A small beep was made, trying to grab everyone's attention.__ Clearing her throat again, Hit__omi began to speak. She realized i__t may be the last chance that she ever got to._

_"Yukari," she said barely in an audible tone. "There is only one thing that I ask of you, and that's to make sure that both my family and you, of all people, remember this one and simple thing: I love you all, I wouldn't be who I am today without you_

_"…but It's because of who I am, and what Gaea has done to me, that I have to go."_

The image flashed away to the blinding white and black static continued still to roll across the screen. Yukari stared at the screen, the tears freely falling now. She picked up the remote behind her and re-winded it. She had to see Hitomi's face just one more time.

She paused it. Van and Hitomi stared back at each other with understanding and concern for the other. There was a bond there that much was obvious. However, to see the faith and affection in her eyes, matched only by his concerned yet relaxed gaze, was a scene that was stabbing her heart. Yukari fell back harshly onto her bed. She placed a hand up to her face in an attempt to wipe away the defiant tears falling down her face, but all she could do was cry.

* * *

A column of blue light filtered down from the sky. As Van and Hitomi managed to touch the ground, it dissipated into the sky again. Hitomi let go of the angel before her as she felt the breeze of Gaea. She looked up at the lush green treetops, and the clear sky above the poked its way through. It was exactly like in her dreams. The blonde closed her eyes gently as she just felt the world around her. It was beautiful and clean, not like Earth, where pollution lurked in every corner of the world. She opened her eyes once again, and turned around. She looked directly at Van, his angelic wings still in view.

_I'm back…_

Hitomi smiled brightly at him as he managed to close his wing's again to where the disappeared from sight. She still thought the site was breathtakingly beautiful, even after having seen them many a time. She took a step closer to him as he took a look around. Van was happy to be back, but his instincts took over.

"We're near the Capital," he announced, re-adjusting the giant blue duffle bag on his shoulder. Hitomi nodded as she understood. Although she had absolutely no idea where they were, Van had lived here is entire life, growing up running around the many forests near and around Gaea.

Van continued to look at his surroundings, placing a hand on his sword. Fanelia was the land of dragons, and unless they were in a settlement, they weren't entirely safe. Over the years Dragons had learned to stay away from the citizens of Fanelia, but the forests were in fact their territory. Although they usually didn't attack, there was no reason for him to relax his guard.

Hitomi walked towards Van and took her duffle bag from him, placing it on her shoulder. She looked at Van awaiting his instruction. Like Van ever truly 'instructed' her to do anything, but she did realize that she would have to follow him to get back to Fanelia.

Van sighed as he began to speak. "Well, I guess we start moving now, or else we won't make it before nightfall," he stated, taking the first steps towards the slow trek to the capital. Hitomi followed shortly behind him. It was going to be a pretty decent walk, thank the lord that Hitomi was an athletic person.

When the two of them made it to the city gates, they were both exhausted. Van walked up to the guards near the gate as Hitomi sat down on her duffle bag sore from hours of walking. "Near the capital my ass," she complained quietly under her breath as she sat down. Although she had attempted to hide her statement, Van had in heard it all and rolled his eyes in amusement. He was tempted to laugh, but he was too exhausted to even do that. Besides, he had to be all authoritative, being king and all.

The raven haired king walked up to the two guards, who were chatting over something that was completely off topic. The two had immediately hushed as they saw the King come closer, but Van had an exceptionally good ear, and heard the last bit of the conversation.

"What do you mean the general is making you work too hard?" Van questioned as he confronted the two men. Both were near his own age, but Van had the deeper tone of the three of them.

Immediately, the two jumped to attention. The one on the right quickly answered, "we were just joking", while the other quietly complained "5 more hours till we're off the clock joking…" The taller of the two, the one on the right, managed to elbow his comrade before bowing to the highly amused king. "Forgive him!"

Van laughed. "Oh stop being so formal," he complained, waving his hand. The tone in his voice lightened and he grinned. "If you're being worked too hard, I'll have a discussion with the general. After all, we are in a time of peace."

The soldiers looked at each other, obviously confused. But they quickly shrugged it off. Fanelians never were that formal after all. So after the three of them stopped laughing, the solider immediately left to go and find a horse for the King and his companion. Van sighed as he made his way next to Hitomi who was still sitting on her duffle bag, next to the other side of the gate. Surprisingly to him, she had her eyes closed as she was just sitting there. It was almost like she was absorbing everything again. The sound of the passing carts, hooves clattering against the stone streets. The simple sounds that one who lives there would have ignored were surprisingly the ones she missed so much.

Van took a seat next to her, leaning up against the wall. "You okay?" he asked, grabbing her attention from whatever dream-like state she was in.

Hitomi opened her eyes and looked at Van. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said quietly. A smile crossed her face and for seemingly no reason at all. Van stared at her with extreme interest, but shrugged it off as her happiness to be back on Gaea. His thoughts turned back to that conversation Hitomi had with the strange box in her room. The confessions she said still rang in his head. She had regretted leaving Gaea.

The raven haired king quickly tossed away the depressing thoughts. Right now he should just be enjoying her company again. After 5 long years, he had finally brought Hitomi home. Everyone, even Merle had missed her, and he finally had reason to go and bring her back to Gaea where she could once again be in his own company.

Speaking of Merle…

"VAN-SAMA!!"

Hitomi's emerald eyes shot open at the familiar voice, where Van widened. "Crap," he said, moving to the other side of Hitomi, the side opposite from the city. The blonde looked at Van with confusion until she saw a certain cat-girl running down the main street towards the city's gate, narrowly dodging the passing traffic. Hitomi laughed out loud as Van sighed straightening out. Fate cannot be avoided.

Van braced himself as he stood up. Within moments, the king had disappeared from Hitomi's sight with a blur. Hitomi looked down and there laid before her the view of Van laying down on the ground, sprawled out in a sort of manner, with a pink haired cat-girl sitting on top of him. Merle began to rub Van's face in a very cat like manner, much to both Merle and the arriving soldier's amusement. The solider stood behind her, two reigns in hand, confused yet amused at the same time.

The blonde turned around to look at the armor clad solider. Their eyes locked and within an instant, they burst into laughter. The two on the ground before them began to argue once again as they have since the day they met.

"Merle!" Van complained, "Get off of me!" He tried his hardest to push the cat-girl off, but Merle had retained her position.

Turning her head to him, Merle stuck out her tongue. "Nope!"

Van's face grew red as laughter could be heard in the background. This of course only made him that much more angry at the girl on top of him. "I said it once, and I'll say it again: _Get Off_!" he threatened in that authoritative voice he had gained in ruling.

The cat-girl grunted before placing herself even more firm into his abdomen, making the king grunt in pain. "Make me!" she chided childishly. Their eyes locked and a sibling-like rage developed in between them. Of course this only made those behind laugh that much harder.

Merle immediately turned on an instant and glared at the person that was behind her. "What is so funny Hitomi!?" she asked, not even realizing the words that had left her mouth. Of course the moment she did, her eyes shot back open. "HITOMI!"

"Oh Cr—"was the only thing that could leave her mouth before Hitomi was pounced on by an overly hyper cat-girl. Forcefully pushed onto the ground, Hitomi hit her head rather hard against the stone ground. A hand went to rub her head as the blonde began to remember how Merle acted when she was exited. "I'm happy to see you too Merle…"

"Oh Hitomi," she began, rubbing Hitomi in the same way she had Van only seconds before. Then, she began to rant…

"Hitomi, We missed you soo much. Van took over with the country and we rebuilt Fanelia but we never heard from you and then that butt head of a flippin hippie just up and disappeared from everyone's sight and Millerna was so confused, and King Aston was sick afterwards so Eries and Millerna have been running Asturia oh did I mention that Allen's sister, you remember Allen's sister Celena, yeah she has been officially documented as 'healthy' again, but after that Allen just sort of kinda lost connections with us because he's been so busy, oh Hitomi we were worried about you so much and we all miss you oh my god we need to contact Millerna and…"

By that time Van had already put a hand over Merle's mouth, as everything she had said was a complete run on sentence. "Breath Merle…" he whispered into her cat ear, reminding her of her mere mortal dependence on air, before slowly removing his hand. The cat took a deep breath before looking back at Hitomi who was wide eyed.

"I MISSED YOU SOO MUCH!!" she exclaimed before engulfing Hitomi into another huge hug.

Van laughed at the sight before him-- A true laugh. Merle perked her ears at the sound. It had been a long time since she last heard such a sound from the king. The cat smiled as she nuzzled her face into Hitmoi's golden locks. _It's all back to the way it's supposed to be…_

That's when Merle noticed a sound coming from under her. The cat lifted her pink head and looked at the girl in confusion. "Huh?" Merle hadn't heard a single syllable that came from her mouth.

"…can't…breath…"

Van immediately popped back into action. "Merle! Get off of her!" he complained trying to pull the cat girl off of Hitomi. "What good would it do to bring her back just for you to suffocate her?" As Merle rose to her feet, Hitomi began to take mouthfuls of air. As she gained her breath once again the blonde began to chase Merle in an attempt to murder her.

The two of them continued to run around the streets surrounding the entrance to the Gaean city. Van sighed as he hung his head again, baffled as to why all of the important women in his life acted like children sometimes. The solider that brought their horses walked up next to Van.

"Did you need the horses?" he asked, amused by the interesting turn of events which had appeared before him.

Van shook his head slightly."Apparently not," he mused to himself as he continued to watch them. "Those two will make it to the castle before long anyways," Van explained before placing his gloved hands in his pocket, following the two arguing girls with a grin on his face.

* * *

_World of __Warcraft__—it has engulfed my life at the moment. I was so close to finishing this chapter WEEKS ago, but… __WoW__ is not just a video game—it's __an__addiction__. An addiction in which once attached, is hard to let go._

_On other news regarding the story—It's official. I need someone who keeps me on track with this thing. It's not that I don't have the story planned, nor that I don't possess the inspiration to write it, but rather I've lost the thought process as it is engulfed by other things. For a while it was __D.Gray__-man, then Dead or Alive4, then I somehow switched to __Pokemon__ then to my latest obsession—World of __Warcraft__ (For the Horde!). So yeah, I __think I need some help with that. If it's hitting 2 weeks, or even worse, my e-mail specifically for is in my profile, so don't __hesitate to send me an E-mail._

_Well we switched into comedy! How can you not when re-uniting our favorite protagonists of Gaea? __Next Chapter it's the return of our Resident Hippie!_

_TehDono__ has left the building!_


	4. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Vision of Escaflowne. I do, however, happen to own a little miniature figure of Dilandau's guymelef. However, I can't get it to stay together, so Dilly is kind of scattered on my desk. OO

* * *

_**Chapter 4**_

Van laughed as two familiar figures made their way to the entry of the castle. Both out of breath and exhausted, Merle and Hitomi had given up their chase of cat and mouse for night had fallen. The king leaned against the doorway as they entered the doorway, their argument not entirely forgotten.

"Merle," Hitomi said in between staggered breaths, "you'd think in five years you'd have grown up a little bit."

The cat reflected it with a mischievous smirk. "You'd also think in five years you would have started to look like a woman." That one deserved a punch in the arm, which didn't entirely hurt from their exhausted state.

"Having fun girls?" Van asked the two as their faces. The two didn't look any different from the children who ran across the streets of Fanelia. Their hair was tangled and a wreck, their faces dirty. Merle's tail was drooped from fatigue, Hitomi's head hung in her chest as she continued to try and catch her own breath. A huge smile crossed Van's face when the two immediately raised their heads to glare at him with the exact same annoyed expression. Van raised his hands for a cease fire as the two highly annoyed girls walked past him. "I didn't do anything, I swear!"

Van had to control his laughter as they walked inside the lit hallway. The two girls had managed to set down their daggers as they both wearily sat down on a bench. Van smiled. "You want to go to your room?" he asked Hitomi.

The blonde raised her head. "Actually, that would be _great_," Hitomi admitted, standing up. Van turned around and grabbed the attention of the maid, forcing her to accidently drop her sheets.

The red haired maid stopped her work, bewildered at the king's sudden question. As one would suspect the young maid began to stutter. "Um, your majesty, we haven't had time to get the room ready for the Lady Hitomi." Van sighed. What should he expect; he had given them only an hour or two. "But," the maid interrupted, grabbing his attention, "the cooks figured you all would be hungry and fixed some nice soup."

Hitomi smiled. "That sounds really good right now."

Merle managed to slurp down the last of her soup as she noticed Hitomi. The young seer from the mystic moon had her gaze up at the blue moon which hung in the sky. The cat couldn't just let it slide. "Ne, Hitomi, whatcha looking at?" she asked innocently enough, but she knew there was no such virtue in her voice.

"Hm?" Hitomi asked, gaining her attention again. "Oh, I was just wondering if Yukari got the video." She said, turning her attention back to the people at hand- Van and Merle. The cat seemed to smile as Hitomi looked at her with curiosity.

"Video?" Van asked from the other side of the table grabbing Hitomi's attention from the confusing marsh known as Merle's mind. The blonde nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah, it's like leaving a note for someone," she said, taking a spoonful of the nice soup.

She gained Van's interest with that last statement, as he was confused. "Um, Hitomi," he said quietly, as if trying to gain the attention of a friend who was truthfully embarrassing themselves, "You do realized you didn't write Yukari a note. I was there; you didn't touch any sort of paper."

"Yeah I did," she said, "when I kept explaining about my leaving."

"Um, you were talking to thin air."

"No I wasn't. There was a camera there that recorded everything I did."

That made Merle intrigued. "You mean, like wrote everything down on paper?" the cat-girl asked, making motions with her hands as if she was writing on the table.

That's when it hit Hitomi. She wasn't on earth anymore. Hitomi Kanzaki was now on Gaea, a world of knights and magic protecting the planet; Kings and Queens ruling the feudal planet with grace. Although sometimes ravaged with War, it was a peaceful time without the need of technologies to make their everyday lives survive. In this world, news was spread without the television or printing press. Mail couldn't be sent in an instant with the internet, but rather weeks by carriage.

The young blonde laughed to herself as she scratched her head in confusion. How was she supposed to explain the basis of a video camera? Something so simply described as "records to make a movie" when on this planet they haven't heard of a movie, let alone a record.

"Well," she started, trying to gather her thoughts. "It's like a play."

Merle looked at her confused yet fascinated all the same as Van sat back in his chair, listening with extreme interest. "A play?" she asked, turning her cat ears in thought. The parallel between a play and a camera needed elaboration.

"Yeah, when watching a play you're watching everything that they are doing- laughing, talking, dancing, moving," Hitomi replied making a visual with her hands. Merle nodded her head enthusiastically. "Well, a camera remembers everything that you did, and can show someone else what happened."

The cat watched Hitomi's hands, repeating everything. "So like, it re-acts what you did."

Hitomi thought for a second. "Kind of. You see, it paints a picture of what I did," she said, gaining the ever so wonderful sarcastic remark 'you can't paint something that is moving'. Hitomi sighed. "It paints a picture that moves to copy what I did. And when attached to something, the picture moves and even talks to re-act what I showed it."

Merle sighed. "It still doesn't make any sense," she said, hitting her head slightly against the table. "The mystic moon is confusing."

The girl smiled. "Hate to admit it, but it is…"

* * *

Van opened the door slightly. Hitomi walked into a beautiful room lit with the warm glow of the fireplace. The entire room had a nice blue theme to it, immediately grabbing Hitomi's interest. Her favorite color after all was blue. But sadly, that wasn't the most important thing on her mind.

Hitomi walked over and fell into the light blue covers. She was exhausted. Her morning began with running for practice, then running around the city in search of a pillar of light. From there she managed to walk miles to reach the capital city of Fanelia where she chased a certain obnoxious brat from the gates to the castle. Although she had managed to satisfy some of her lost energy with a well cooked dinner, she couldn't help but feel her legs about to detach themselves as she finally relaxed for the first time all day.

Behind Van walked in the same red haired maid from before. Her gaze was locked with the floor as she walked in, stopping next to the door. Hitomi looked at her slightly confused, but didn't take a second notion as her main thoughts were occupied with the thoughts of "Bed" and "Sleep".

The King walked over to the bed, looking at the exhausted Hitomi. "It's late so I'm going to head on to bed myself," he said, taking a few steps towards the door. Hitomi just nodded in response. "If you need me, I'm right down the hall."

As the door closed Hitomi tried to sit back up in bed. She managed to find a clock on the sill of the fireplace. It was a quarter past 11, meaning it was late within itself. The blonde woman threw herself against the bed.

The red haired maid walked forward. "Lady Hitomi," she managed to say after a few moments silence. "I'm here to help you…"

Hitomi shot up. "With what?"

"Whatever," the maid said; setting the clothes she carried on the bed. "I'd expect you may need help getting ready for bed."

Hitomi shook her head. "No I'm fine," she suggested, standing up as if to prove a point. However, Hitomi knew that wasn't what she meant.

"But it's my job to help you dress, milady."

"No, it's okay," she said, stepping towards the closet. "I'm pretty sure I can dress myself." Hitomi took the clothing that the maid had laid on the bed in an attempt to stop the girl from doing her job. That didn't stop the maid as she took the initiative to strip Hitomi with permission or not. The two were within the same age and without the king around, the maid grew back her courage as faced with someone like her.

Grabbing the belt loops of Hitomi's jeans, the maid tried to pull the pants down. Thank God for buttons and slim fit pants, as they hardly budged. Hitomi dropped the night gown as she grabbed her pant belt. "Hey!" she yelled, walking away.

"Don't make this harder than it actually is Lady Hitomi."

"I've dressed myself since I was five years old."

"But I've also been told that the Mystic Moon is much more different than Gaea."

"Not so different that I don't know how to change into a night gown!"

The Maid's anger was finally released with a huff. She let go of Hitomi's pants as she walked towards the door. "Let's see you get yourself into a corset when the time comes," she explained in a huff as she slammed the door shut.

"Trust me; I'm not wearing any corset!"

With that Hitomi sighed as she sat down on the bed again. What a strange woman. But something in the back of her mind told her that wouldn't be the last Hitomi saw of the spunky maid. What was with the sudden change of behavior from quiet and obedient around the King to no respect of personal space? Hitomi threw the question away as she began to change clothes. As she pulled off her jeans, she worshiped the buttons and zippers she had spent years arguing with.

Throwing the jeans on the opposite wall, Hitomi unfolded the white fabric which lay next to her. As she unfolded she saw not a night gown, but what looked like a huge marsh mellow. What she saw was actually a beautifully embroidered chemise, what she should have known from the Ren Fairs were worn under most all dresses. The undergarments of medieval ladies, this was perfectly suitable. However, Hitomi did have to adjust to sleeping in more fabric than usual, as her nightly garments used to consist of a pair of track shorts with a tank top.

The blonde sighed as she set the chemise down, starting to strip once again. Taking of her shirt, and throwing it against the wall with the jeans, Hitomi started to relax a little. Now positive that the red head wasn't coming back to strip Hitomi of her pride, the young woman began to feel a little more comfortable. Taking off her bra, as she never slept with one, Hitomi stood up to lock the door. It would destroy not only her pride, but her mentality if someone were to walk in on her practically naked.

But who said doors were the only threat.

Merely seconds before she could lock the door a crash came into her room. Hitomi turned on a time, covering her exposed body with her hands. A blood curdling scream leaving her mouth as she tried to hide from whatever intruder had entered her bedroom.

"Oh shit," a male voice said from the proximity of the inevitable crash. The man stood up quickly to try and find his way out; however, he wasn't expecting the onslaught of flying furniture.

A picture, flowers, a vase, and glasses; the assault of random objects stopped the man from his current route of escape. Through all the screaming from the woman, the man managed to hear the thunderous roar of footsteps. Within seconds, the door was slammed open, revealing the sight of a shirtless King with his trademark scowl. His sword drawn and ready to strike, he wasted not a moment as he took the first steps of battle.

The man managed to scramble away from the King just quick enough to avoid getting his head chopped off. Hitomi managed to cease her screaming as Van took care of the intruder. With his silvery blade against the man's throat, the trespasser began to rave forgiveness.

"Van, man, snap out of it! It's me!" he said, sitting absolutely still his neck to the blade, and his back to the wall.

Van's analyzing crimson eyes took a second glance at the man before releasing the slack on his sword just slightly. The sword still rested within inches of the intruder's neck. "What the hell are you doing here?" Van managed to ask with authority yet sarcasm.

That sparked Hitomi's interest enough to peer over the bedding, her holding onto the chemise for dear life. Sure enough when she took the time to actually look at the intruder it was the familiar figure of a certain Asturian merchant from her high school memories. Hitomi stood up as sudden recognition took hold.

"Dryden?"

The man tried to stand up, but the blade inches from his throat made him think other wise. "Is there another?" he asked, looking at the woman again. That's when he placed the pieces of his assault together. The blonde woman was undressed, holding her night gown close to save herself from exposure. The King brought his attention back from the woman with the simple movement of his royal blade.

"Why the hell are you in Hitomi's bed room?" the king demanded in an unusually low tone, placing the tip of his sword merely millimeters from Dryden's face.

Dryden tried to laugh. "Well you see that's a funny story. You see I…," he began, trying to find his explanation. That's when it dawned on him. His blue eyes darted from the startled blonde woman to the blade at his nose. Stopped in the middle of his explanation, Van noticed the glances Dryden was taking at Hitomi, thus causing steel to rest on the ex-king's neck. That of course brought the anti-war liberal back to his senses.

"That's Hitomi?" he questioned, his back stiffening with the chill of the blade against his throat.

The woman took a step forward, mocking her old friend. "Is there another?"

Dryden laughed as Van removed the blade from the merchant's neck. It was quiet obvious that now that they realized who each other were, nothing life threatening was going to happen. The dark haired merchant stood up. "Oh I would come and give you a hug right now if it weren't the given circumstances."

That caused the raven haired king to actually look at Hitomi. Blood rushed to his face as he immediately turned back around. "Please put the night gown on, Hitomi."

Hitomi's face turned bright red as she once again realized her predicament. The Asturian merchant turned in the same direction Van had whilst Hitomi put the chemise on. Once she was certain the nightdress was on to where nothing showed, Hitomi beckoned the boys to turn back around. The pink tint on Van's face seemed to have vanished while Dryden's familiar smirk once again crossed his tan face.

Hitomi made herself comfortable sitting on her bed, while Dryden and Van were opposite of her. Dryden sat in the chair whilst the latter decided it was better to lean against the doorway. The scholar began to question Hitomi on her journey back to Gaea without even a moment to stop and let the girl answer.

"So Dryden," Van began, driving the merchant's attention away from the blonde which had recently had his full attention. "You plan on explaining to us anytime soon about WHY you had decided to break into Hitomi's bedroom?"

Dryden laughed. "Oh yeah, about that," he began, twiddling his thumbs. "Um, it's part of an experiment."

Van raised his eyebrows. "At almost midnight?"

"Well you see, I got so caught up in it that by dinner food was far from my mind," he explained, resting his hands on his lap. "I was testing the Zaibach equipment when it backfired because of a bad power source, and kind of threw me into the window."

Hitomi's back straightened at the sound of the country. "What are you doing with Zaibach equiptment?"

"Well Hitomi, after the Great War, as they have been calling it, Zaibach's economy has failed so horribly that any and all business is welcomed," he explained. She knew that those countries that lost in a war lost more than just the lives. Their economy continued to suffer thus afterward. "Since the people now have an extreme hatred with Dornkirk's old soldiers and sorcerers, the people are selling all of their work—machinery, studies. I decided to buy it and see how the other countries could benefit."

Van nodded in agreement. "Yes, it's understandable," he said, closing his eyes. It had been lord knows how long since he's slept. "When a country's economy falls, so do people's ethics. As long as it will put food on the table, people of a destroyed country will sell anything and everything."

Hitomi understood. "But that still doesn't explain why he is testing it in the _Fanelian Castle_," Hitomi suggested. Van chuckled a bit before Dryden opened his mouth to answer.

"You see, Fanelia here is such a wonderful friend, he's allowing me to carry out my studies abroad, offering his castle as a homestead…"

"More like you're just hiding from the princess," Van chided. The scholar sunk in his chair whispering to himself along the lines of 'that too'. Hitomi sighed as she watched the man. She had been there when Dryden left the Asturian Princess to become a better man. But she was sure that within the five years that she had been away, Dryden was enough of that man than he himself thought.

Hitomi glared at Dryden. "Have you even seen Millerna in the five years I've been gone?" she asked the merchant accusingly. Dryden sighed placing a hand on his forehead.

"A few times. Once at Chid's birthday, another during Fanelia's here. Both were purely coincidental," he admitted.

Van laughed. "Yeah, and both times you used Me, Allen, or some other politician as cover to get away from talking to her."

Having his fill, Dryden decided it was time to leave the two to whatever they thought. Gathering the small parts that flew in with him, Dryden began to take his leave. Claiming it being past midnight and him in need of beauty sleep, the Asturian merchant used his suave persuasion to skillfully leave the room. Van followed in suit, but not before remembering entirely what all the man had done to his castle. Van sighed.

"You need a new room," he said to Hitomi, leading her out of the bedroom for the 3rd try in one night for a decent bedroom.

* * *

You know that little voice in your head? The one called your instincts that tell you when you're doing something wrong, and keeps trying to make you stop? Yeah, it's that really annoying one that likes to speak at either the absolute best time or more often than not at the worst possible time in history.

That just happened to be the voice screaming in Hitomi's mind as her and Van stopped in front of two double doors with the Fanelian crest engraved on it.

Last time she checked, it was past one in the morning, not a single servant roamed the hallways, and give her five more hours and Hitomi would have been awake for a whole twenty-four hours. With her current state, normally Hitomi wouldn't have entirely cared what bed she was sleeping in, let alone what room that bed happened to be in. However, when that annoying little voice decided to speak up at that worst possible time, Hitomi ended up being wide awake and alert. Van opened the door to the most beautiful room Hitomi had ever seen. A gold and red theme encompassed the room. It was at times like this, Hitomi really wondered if the 'old' styles were out of fashion.

"Um, Van?" she asked, stopping the near zombie state king who was next to her. "I'm going on a strange limb I usually don't tend to climb on, but I'm going to ask anyways. What room is this?"

The tired king managed to look at Hitomi before answering. "It's my room," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the room. She couldn't lie- it kind of was. That still didn't make Hitomi feel that much better.

"Ok, where am I sleeping Van?"

The king looked at her confused as hell. "In my room," he explain simplistically as he stepped inside, slipping off his brown boots near the doorway.

Hitomi on the other hand, wouldn't step inside. "Um, Van," she said, "incase you hadn't realized, that's not exactly the wisest choice to pick right now…" Hitomi leaned against the doorway, her lack of sleep evident to anyone who could see her.

As she said that, Van turned around to face Hitomi. He closed the distance between them, as he spoke. "Hitomi, it's one in the morning. All of the servants are asleep. No extra rooms are made up, it's five hours till sunrise and I have a huge king-size bed big enough for both of us to lay on it and be comfortable." The distance between them had dissolved into that of mere inches. "I'm tired, I don't care about damn etiquette right now."

Van locked his weary red irises with hers. Over the five years she had been separated from him, that was one of the many things which never left her; the sight of his beautiful crimson eyes. Hitomi's instincts had woken her up to where her senses were fully working, unlike the desperately tired man before her. Hitomi sighed as she reluctantly gave in, much to the disapproval of her little voice in her head.

The young woman sighed as she walked inside his room. Once she decided to step inside, Van visibly relaxed even more. The two managed to get to their places on the bed, and wrap themselves in the warmth of the garnet comforters. The concerned voice in her head vanished as the familiar scent surrounded her. The depths of the forest, the grass of a field, and the wind of the sky; it was Van's scent. All of her anxiety died down; as she let the day's events take their toll, relaxing her to the state where she could find rest.

Looking through the balcony window, Hitomi could see the earth and moon hanging peacefully in the sky. A sight she had wanted to view so badly for the past five years was finally visible once again.

But as always, she feared it was just a dream. Van walking into her dorm room, and bringing her back was just a dream. Chasing Merle around Fanelia, explaining the video camera—even Dryden bursting through her window as she changed. It was all just a dream. Suddenly, she didn't want to fall asleep. What if she did, and when she woke up, it would be to the sound of her alarm clock reminding her she had early morning practice?

"Van?" Hitomi asked in a wavering voice. She turned on her side, to look at Van. Much to her surprise, he hadn't entirely fallen asleep although he was damn close.

"Hmm?"

He was tired, but he still managed to open his eyes and look at Hitomi. His senses flared slightly as he noticed the panic that lay within them. The fear in her eyes wasn't the Hitomi he knew. Tears threatened to fall from her emerald pools, forcing him to sit up. "Hitomi? What's wrong?" he said in that tired voice that's filled with alertness, but the body is still tired and doesn't relay everything.

The blonde curled the fabric near her face. "This isn't a dream, right?" she asked, managing to confuse Van beyond all reason. "I'm going to wake up in the morning, and I'll still be on Gaea, right? You'll still be here, won't you?"

Realization hit him in the face. Van closed the space between them as he wrapped Hitomi in his arms. He had asked himself before whether it was just a dream, but through all of it, he had accepted that Hitomi was in fact here on Gaea with him.

Van smiled softly as he stroked her hair in an attempt to calm her to sleep.

"I promise Hitomi. I'll always be right here…"

* * *

_I realize it's been 2 chapters since I've had any sort of fluff, so this is filling the request for the fluff, however small it is (which in this case is TINY as HELL). But don't expect much more for a while. The stage is not entirely set, but since I altered most of this chapter from what I originally planned, I thought it would be a nice ending. Besides, it reminded me too much of some of the arguments I've had with friends, so I only saw more funny opportunities with our favorite king and the rules of 'etiquette'. So enjoy it while it lasts! _

_Also, I'd like to apologize for the extremely slow moving in the story, but it's hard trying to set the stage for future events. Trust me; I put adventure as one of the genres for good reason! It's not all this nice wonderful comedy, as much as we all love Dryden and his wonderful hippie personality! _

_I would like to thank a few special reviewers who have followed me dutifully for the past 3 chapters (for me that's a lot). I've got to admit, reading everyone's reviews are wonderful boots of inspiration! Thank you_

_**Inda, Arienhod, kerpal bubbles, and Sulis Saifir!**_

_You guys don't realize how much it means to have dutiful readers and reviewers!_

_Keep an eye out for the next chapter!_

_TehDono has left the building!_


	5. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Vision of Escaflowne or any other anime in which has any relation. If I did, we would first and foremost re-write the ending of Escaflowne, then head onto re-writing Fushigi Yuugi where Miaka is hated by all who lay eyes on her… dodges thrown objects

* * *

_**Chapter 5**_

Normally one would consider waking up a natural beginning. After all, when one woke up it was the start of a brand new day. The day would end in the innate cycle of one falling back asleep, only to start back again when the time would come for them to awake. It's a natural occurrence in which has followed many since as far back as they could remember.

For Hitomi, waking up was what she always had feared most.

Within five years, Hitomi had nightly visions of the aberrant planet in which stole her heart. With the start of a new day, with the beginning of the cycle, Hitomi only woke up more and more disappointed. From the moment her senses returned to when she first opened her emerald green eyes, Hitomi always knew something was wrong, that where ever she was wasn't right.

But this morning was one of the few different. When Hitomi opened her eyes, instead of first hearing the blaring buzz of her electric alarm clock, the only sound audible was the melodic echo of the morning bird singing as it prepared for the day ahead. Rather than hearing the rush of running water from Yukari's daily shower, she heard the whisper of the breeze blowing against the trees. And for the first time since she returned from that 'trip' during her junior year of high school, everything just felt right.

Hitomi managed to open her eyes, absorbing the entire scene before her. The sun shined brilliantly through the open window, allowing the spring air to fill her nostrils. Untainted with the pollution that lingered in the modern sky of Japan, the breeze that entered the room was that wonderful blend of purity and tranquility. Hitomi smiled.

More contented than one would suspect, Hitomi smiled as she leaned farther back into the warmth which surrounded her. For once everything just felt perfectly right. She wasn't getting ready for track, nor was she cramming for a test. Hitomi had awakened to the sight of Gaea, her exotic planet where the earth and moon hung in the sky. The fact that she had woken on Gaea meant her fears were over. It wasn't a dream; Hitomi really was on Gaea.

However, her state of absolute blissful peace was interrupted. As Hitomi sighed with contentment, her serenity was ruined by the slight movement of the two arms which encompassed her, bringing her only that much closer to whatever lay behind her.

Hitomi now felt the blood run to her face as the steady flow of breath crossed her ear. Turning slightly to look behind her, the tense blonde was stopped in her tracks as she felt something rubbing against her neck. Nervous chills ran up her spine as Hitomi now realized the exact position she was entirely in. Every muscle in her body tensed as she remembered exactly where she was. Here Hitomi was, not only waking up her first morning in Gaea, but waking up in the bed of the King of Fanelia.

She relaxed, however, at the last memory she had from the night before. _"I'll always be right here."_ Hitomi managed to turn around in his arms, managing to face the sleeping king. A smile crossed her face as she managed to lean her head against shoulder, accepting her new position rather than fighting it. _He really is here_…

Closing her eyes, Hitomi began to relax in her new position. She opened her eyes again to gaze up at his serene face. The King of Fanelia slept rather peacefully considering his current position. His black locks carelessly fell over his closed eyelids. A smile had crossed his face setting Hitomi at a sense of peace. If she couldn't get free herself from his sleepy embrace, Hitomi would just have to make the best of it, so she closed her eyes in an attempt to fall back asleep.

As Hitomi lay there, she entirely realized what was going on. Here she was, sleeping in the Van's bed, with his hands delicately placed around her waist. And for some strange odd reason, she wasn't fighting it. In fact, just knowing his strong arms locked securely around her gave her an unexplained sense of security and peace.

Of course her sense of peace wouldn't last forever. After she had lain there a few minutes, she heard the soft sound of footsteps trailing across the bedroom floor. Cold chills went down her spine, forcing the blonde to tense up. With her slight movement seemed to trigger something in his sleep, as Van's face suddenly became troubled.

The footsteps seemed to come closer, and Hitomi closed her eyes tighter. She realized the predicament she was in. Van's grip grew tighter as his dream became worse. "No…" he whispered quietly to whoever was inside of his dream. "Stop… Hitomi…"

That caused Hitomi's eyes to fly open and stare at the sleeping king with obscure confusion. Whoever was walking by stopped abruptly. Hitomi took the chance to look up at the intruder only to lock eyes with a certain mischievous smirk from the one of the two people in the entire stoned castle that would never let either of them live down this once in a lifetime coincidence.

"Dryden!"

"Looks like you were busy last night," Dryden said with a scary grin. Hitomi's heart almost stopped. What part of she was still in her puffy marshmallow chemise did the ignorant merchant not entirely understand.

As much as it destroyed her to wake Van up in such an occasion, Hitomi elbowed the raven haired king in the wise attempt to awake him from his slumber with a jump. "This is _not_ what it looks like," she quickly explained, finally yanking Van's arms off of her waist.

The merchant pushed up his glasses as he said whimsically, "Suuuure it's not."

Van finally gained the ability to think rationally. "What the hell was that for Hitomi?" he asked nonchalantly as everything had not entirely registered. "Hito…Hitomi? Why are you in my room?" Van burst out, apparently not remembering the whole night before. His eyes locked with Dryden. "And what the hell are _you_ doing in here?"

Dryden laughed. "I was in here for the more innocent matters," he quickly explained, showing the white envelope he held in his hand. "You on the other hand I could question, King Van…"Van raised his eyebrow in uncertainty. Dryden decided to help a little bit in returning his memory. Wrapping his arms around himself he smiled while screaming. "No, stop Hitomi!" Hitomi had jumped completely on top of the covers, examining the portrait of Fanelia's forest with extreme interest, a red tint slightly covering her cheeks.

And that's when he connected the pieces together. The scream, the rescue, the argument, the dream—all the events from the night before were replaying in his head. Van's expression dropped as his face turned red with humiliation. Hitomi turned to look at him, a look of pleading clearly portrayed in her eyes. Van took it as permission to eliminate the threat at all means possible, which with his rational thinking was only 'kill him'.

Dryden noticed the King moving towards his sword which lay next to his bed. The merchant smiled as he tucked the white envelope he had carried in his pocket as he quickly made his way towards the door. "I'll see you love birds at breakfast!" he cheerily said before slamming the door shut behind him before the King made it half way there.

A long quiet passed between the two of them. Hitomi took to her new task of personally examining every particle of dust which lay in the room, while Van highly admired the hilt of his sword.

Van realized however that this eerie silence wasn't getting them anywhere. Van swallowed his pride and looked at Hitomi. "What happened?"

Shaking her head, Hitomi managed to squeak out "Nothing…"

"When Dryden gains a smile like that, it's obvious that it's nothing," Van rationalized. Hitomi still wasn't budging. "I know I said something, but I doubt that was the exact way I said them."

Hitomi nodded. "Yeah, you said that… as well as did a few different things…"

"Like…?"

Van knew he wasn't going to get a straight forward answer. He sighed as he sat back down on the bed next to Hitomi. The blonde quickly jumped as he leaned forward, his breath lingering over her ear. "THAT! You were doing that!"

He looked at her with a confused look. "Well, that and a few other things…" Van looked at her hard as if for her to continue. Hitomi knew she wasn't going to be let out of the room to change if she didn't answer, so she sighed. "…like, I don't know—breathing on my ear, nuzzling my neck, holding me by my waist…"

Hitomi's face grew bright red, as did Van's when she answered. Hitomi had now moved a few feet away from Van, and fell onto her back in the plush crimson comforter. Van looked at her curiously as she puffed out of frustration.

"I haven't even spent a full day back in Gaea and now I'm going to be murdered!"

Van laughed, managing to break the uncomfortable atmosphere. "You forget who you're talking to. They can't kill you without my permission—I'm the King of Fanelia."

Hitomi sighed as she looked at the ceiling. "The guards can't, but that doesn't say anything about Merle…"

* * *

After finding herself a decent dress for the day, Hitomi managed to make her way to the dining hall. Upon her entrance into the sun lit room, Hitomi was greeted with the wonderful glaring daggers from a certain pink haired cat-girl, and a roguish grin from the sly merchant next to her. At the head of the table, Van held his head in his hands. Hitomi wearily took the seat the waiter had appointed her to sit at next to Van. As she sat down, Hitomi could feel the burning glower aimed in her direction from Merle.

With that soon came Dryden's impish laugh, which caused Hitomi and Van to sigh at the exact same time. As the waiter brought in their breakfast, Hitomi tried to occupy herself with the sight of bright yellow eggs and crispy fried bacon.

All through breakfast, the four managed to keep their silence. Van found that he had lost his appetite as he continually played with his food, while Hitomi's plate seemed to occupy her full attention. Dryden didn't even touch his rations while staring with obvious humor at the two. Merle on the other hand, managed to finish both her food and drink with plenty of time to stare down Hitomi.

After a good thirty minutes of silence, Hitomi sighed. "Van! Make Merle stop."

"Stop what?" the cat girl hissed, continually throwing snake eyes in the blonde's direction. "Why should I stop when you're the one who slept with the King." Dryden finally burst into laughter. The Asturian merchant didn't think anyone in the room would so bluntly state it.

Hitomi's face grew red. "I DIDN'T!"

"Then why the hell did this guy come downstairs screaming you two did?"

"Cause he's a weirdo!"

"Maybe he's a weirdo, but he's an honest guy!"

"Since when are merchant's honest?"

Dryden sighed. "They do realize I'm here, right?" he whispered to the highly embarrassed king. Van shook his head.

"I honestly don't think they do…"

The two jumped to a start as Hitomi and Merle slammed their hands on the table, an untamable fire burning between the two of them. Dryden managed to catch the plates that threatened to fall off, while Van finally stood up. "Sit down!" he demanded in his authoritative voice. His threatening tone Hitomi immediately jumped while Merle just took a step back. Both, however, managed to sit down quietly at the exact same time. Van allowed a few seconds of silence to linger before he spoke again.

Hitomi looked at Van confused. The Van she knew from five years ago wouldn't have spoke with such authority, especially at Merle. But then again, in the five years Hitomi had been gone, Van had to grow into a King, having authority over all of Fanelia.

He turned an icy glare on Merle and Dryden. "Nothing happened—I repeat, NOTHING. At a certain someone's," his glare turned directly to Dryden, "midnight entrance, Hitomi was without a room and there wasn't another made. Yes she stayed in my room, but that was all, nothing more." Merle curled her brown tail around her and looked at the floor as she listened to Van's lecture. Dryden on the other hand, tried to look solemn, but managed to keep an all knowing grin.

Satisfied with their silence, Van managed to sit back down. As much as it bothered him to have his friends still have to obey every word he said, being a King did have it's certain advantages.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Hitomi decided that it didn't belong among a group of friends. "If it's okay to ask," she said looking up from her now empty plate, "what were you even doing in Van's bedroom so early in the morning?"

The merchant laughed. "Well, you see I've decided it was time I packed up this little…um… research visit..." he slowly explained. As if he was trying to avoid the discussion all together, Dryden's eyes continued to glance around the room as if he held the explanation he needed.

But before he could finish, a solider made his way into the room. Van's immediate attention diverted from the stammering merchant to the rather large warrior. Garnered in extravagant armor, the man knelt before his king. Van looked at him curiously. "General Raulin," Van greeted, signaling for the man to stand up. "I didn't expect you to join us for breakfast General or else I would have forced Fassa here out of the dining room earlier."

The General laughed. "No, I'm actually here this morning on business, your Majesty."

Hitomi took another look at this General Raulin. He seemed that of a generally jolly character, but his brown eyes seemed to over analyze everything. From the moment he stood up, the general took a few glances around the room, his eyes lingering on Hitomi in a very uncomfortable manner. The blonde shifted her position after his attention turned back to the King.

"What's going on?"

"Asturia," he said in a single breath. Van rose his eyebrow, making the man clarify himself. "Our northern base spotted a royal carriage crossing the border about 2 days ago." Dryden sunk into his chair.

Van noted that as he continued to talk to Raulin, "If they were spotted up there 2 days ago, they've been on their way here for about a week," he contemplated, "and without word, no less."

Raulin shook his head. "No, we received word 4 days back that the Princess Millerna was coming to visit." Although that explained Dryden's behavior, it sparked Van's interest a little bit.

"4 days ago and I didn't receive word?"

Dryden sat up. "Well Van, we couldn't exactly tell you while you were on the Mystic Moon getting Hitomi here."

Van looked at the merchant with confusion. Hitomi realized immediately what Dryden meant. Time seemed to pass at awkward speeds between the two worlds. While Hitomi spent months away from home, it was just a week to those who noted her missing. When Allen's father came back after years of searching for her grandmother, it was only a few moments between their meetings. Yet, the exact same amount of time passed between Hitomi's visits, in both Earth and Gaean standards.

"Exactly how long was he gone?" Hitomi asked Raulin. The general counted on his hands.

"About a week, I'd guess."

Van looked at Hitomi in confusion, thinking that she'd have an answer. After all she was the 'Seer from the Mystic Moon'. "I was only on the Mystic Moon for a few hours," he explained to the General.

"Time seems to pass differently," she obviously explained, not truthfully having the answer Van wanted. He quickly glanced over to her before looking curiously at Dryden.

"Do you have any idea as to why Millerna wants to visit now?" he asked curiously, filing the oddity of time travel in the back of his mind. "I pretty much know that's the reason you want to leave..."

Dryden smiled mischievously. "Well, you guessed right, but as to why she's coming, I wish I knew…"

Van sighed as he gave up interrogating the merchant, but he turned to another matter. "I'm not going to bore you again with how I feel about it…" the king said. Keeping everyone else in the dark with his statement, Dryden knew precisely what he was talking about. However, a scholar at heart, what everyone else told Dryden just wasn't enough. No matter how many times, and from how many people he heard it.

* * *

The merchant's ship momentarily blocked the midday sun as he flew over the castle. Hitomi leaned against the stone railing of the balcony to her _new_ bedroom as she watched the Asturian Merchant Ship fly away. Hours before, Dryden left the dining hall with a hug, leaving to a place Hitomi didn't really know or honestly care. Dryden was a big boy, a good seven years older than her. He could take care of himself.

Hitomi sighed as she watched the beautiful landscape before her. Although Fanelia was a bustling city, it wasn't like looking down on Yokohama, or even Tokyo. The people went about their daily lives without a care in the world. They went to the bazaar to buy their supper, while the children played in the streets without fear. How could Yukari not fall in love with a world which was so peaceful?

A light knock on the door, and Hitomi managed to rouse herself from her comfortable position. "Come in Van," she said loud enough for her voice to carry across the gigantic room.

With the sound of the creaking door, Hitomi turned her attention back to the bustling city below. Hitomi immediately knew who was at the door as there were only three people that would bother her. One would be Merle, but the cat girl didn't exactly knock, more like she ran in. The other would be the red haired maid from before; whom she soon learned was named Sophie. When Sophie would enter, she would knock twice before opening the door, Hitomi's consent or not.

And then there was Van's knock. He knocked a few times, quietly yet loud enough to be heard. And unlike the other two, he always waited his place outside before either Hitomi opened the door herself, or called for him to come on in. Only after one day, she knew it was absurd to know stuff like their different knocks, but she also forgot that she spent months on end with Merle and Van. It was only a matter of deduction to figure Sophie's pattern.

Van stepped inside the room. "Hey, Merle wants to know what co…" his voice trailed off slightly as he looked around and observed the room. His crimson eyes laid sight to a familiar shadow coming from the balcony window. "Hitomi!"

Two strong hands pulled Hitomi from her resting position, spinning her around on her heels. Shocked beyond common thought, the blonde looked at him confused. Her emerald eyes were that of surprise, and also were that of her words.

"VAN!" she screamed, throwing Van's arms off of her. She stumbled back into the room sitting down roughly on her bed. "What the hell was that for?" she questioned, her peaceful afternoon disrupted.

The raven haired King looked away from her annoyed gaze. He quickly turned around and closed the glass doors to the balcony. Hitomi immediately realized that he was ignoring her, which only left her that much more mad.

Hitomi stood up abruptly, facing Van as he turned around. He purposely avoided her gaze.

"You don't need to be on the balcony," he bluntly stated.

Batting her eyelashes in disbelief was her only reply. What the hell was that supposed to mean? In all of her entire life, Hitomi hadn't ever heard such a thing said to her. Last time she checked, Hitomi thought she was a pretty grounded woman, knowing what she should and shouldn't do.

"Excuse me?" she questioned when she gained stable thought once again.

Van turned and looked her in the eye. "It's dangerous out there by yourself," he said sharply, making Hitomi jump slightly. Then he recognized what entirely passed through his mouth-- more importantly how harshly he said it. "…I me—I mean, what if… what if you happened to fall over the railing, no one would have been able to save you."

The look he received was not exactly the one he wanted. The bright emerald pools reflected back her emotions of uncertainty with the questions she knew wouldn't be answered laying in them.

And that's when Hitomi saw it; the dark varnish to his crimson gaze. The harsh siren of alert ran while as she saw a diminutive resolve in his eyes. The slight sign that he wasn't telling her everything, that there was more to his actions than she realized possible. Van knew more than he was letting on.

"Hitomi! There you are," a deafening voice said, bringing Hitomi back to her senses. She turned around to see Merle stomping into the room. "I finally found a dress that should fit you tomorrow—at least until the tailor comes."

Hitomi honestly had no idea what she was talking about. A few minutes ago, maybe- just maybe, she may have remembered. But with everything running through her head, the only thing she managed to do was stare back at the cat girl with a baffled expression. And that didn't satisfy Merle.

"Come on," she said, dragging Hitomi to her feet. Hitomi managed to throw a smile on as she followed Merle out of room.

Van stood there in silence. His gaze fixated on the doorway in which Hitomi left without a moment to spare. He didn't know whether to act like it never happened, or to explain the entire situation to her. Either one within themselves were bound to end in failure.

He slowly walked over to the four post bed, where he sat. He stared out at the city featured with the balcony's view. A bustling city in which everyone was at peace. Mothers made their way around the bazaar without a care in the world. Children played in the streets knowing full well they were safe from the world's harms.

What was with him? In a country full of peace, how could he manage to flip out over something so trivial as looking out the window? Hitomi wouldn't understand his position. As a matter of fact, no one could. He tore his sight away from the peaceful setting as he placed his head in his hands.

"I'm so stupid…"

* * *

_Wow… it was annoying to write that last section. I kept stopping and writing, and stopping. But I managed to make it to 4,000 words! Barely… OO Well, don't expect the updates to be near as frequent as they were as my RP site, Engi Roleplay (engiroleplay./index.cgi) should be picking back up in activity, and I've promised to spend more time with them as I've been divided by my fan fic and World of Warcraft! TTTT On a lighter note though, next chapter is the return of two more of our favorite characters!! (says while unpacking rifles to shoot them down with)I shall refrain from bashing Allen, I promise._

_TehDono is out!_


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